Home
by DarkLord935
Summary: Rorikstead is burned down by bandits and the Dragonborn adopts a newly orphaned Sissel. Orc!Dragonborn. Rated T to be safe. Two-shot
1. Rorikstead

The bandits had killed most of the town.

Her father and sister lay dead. The farmhouse was in flames, burning embers lighting up the night.

Sissel was sat on the dirt, curled into a trembling ball, knees up to her chest. The hooded man with the axe was currently sifting through the pockets of one of the bandits she had seen him slaughter. He was at least 6 foot and muscles bulged from his torn sleeves. A choked sob escaped her and the man looked round as though realising she was there. He stood up, flung the axe onto his back and walked slowly over to Sissel.

Sissel was crying into her knees, too scared to move. The man with the axe crouched in front of her and lowered his hood revealing himself to be an orc with grey skin and a black mohawk. He had scars criss-crossing the right hand side of his face and blue eyes. One of his tusks had a little chip in the side. He didn't move for a few seconds. Then he said gruffly, "What's your name, girl?"

She looked up. The orc didn't appear to be hostile.

"S-Sissel," she stuttered.

"That your family, Sissel?" He nodded towards the bodies closest to them.

Sissel nodded slowly.

The orc thought for a moment and reached forwards.

Sissel violently flinched back and the orc paused. "I won't hurt you."

"That's w-what they always s-said," she gave a jerky nod to the bodies.

The orc seemed to consider this.

"But they're dead now," he growled slowly, "so they won't hurt you any more either."

He pulled a red apple out of his pocket and offered it to her. "You hungry?"

Sissel eyed it suspiciously for a moment, then her hunger overtook her ability to think rationally and she took it quickly before he changed his mind. She bit into it and the juices oozed out. She finished the whole thing in less than a minute, including the core and the orc realised how hungry she actually was.

She suddenly started openly sobbing, her small form convulsing as the orc wondered what he'd done wrong.

"Why you crying, girl?" he rasped.

"I don't-I don't wanna g-go to the orphanage," she managed to stammer out.

The orc seemed to be weighing up his options.

"You could come and live with me, if you want."

Sissel stared at the orc, trying to determine if he had ulterior motives. After a few seconds she decided to trust him, reasoning that he'd already given her food, and that if he was going to hurt her, he would have done so by now.

"D-do you have a house?"

"I have a home in Whiterun. It's not huge, but-"

"You-you mean it?"

"What kind of monster would joke about something like that?"

Sissel's crying had slowed down. "I-thank you! Thank you so much! I-I promise I won't be any trouble, mister..." she trailed off.

The orc smiled.

"Gorak."

He extended a calloused hand and Sissel hesitated a moment before taking it gratefully. Gorak gently pulled her to her feet and quickly led her away from the farm towards the edge of town where he'd left his horse.

A khajit bandit suddenly appeared out of the darkness with a sword and ran at them screaming. Gorak flayed out his left arm and flames flew from his fingers, incinerating the khajit. He felt Sissel tense and cling tighter to his other arm. They reached Gorak's horse.

Gorak looked down at the Nord who now seemed to be latching onto him for dear life.

"I'm just going to lift you up," he growled softly.

Sissel jumped slightly at his voice. "O-okay."

The orc picked her up and placed her on the horse as gently as he could. He patted the horse on the neck, said "good boy" and climbed on behind Sissel. He wrapped one arm around Sissel so she wouldn't fall off and then they were moving. Sissel visibly tensed. Gorak must have noticed because he slowed down a little and ran a few calloused fingers through her hair. "It's alright now, girl. We're going home."

Rorikstead burned behind them as they rode off, embers rising into the night sky.


	2. Whiterun

Rorikstead burned behind them as they rode off, embers rising into the night sky.

Some time later, Gorak felt Sissel relax against him, indicating that she had fallen asleep. They were approaching Whiterun. He became increasingly aware that he was hungry. He'd been in Rorikstead wanting to buy some cabbages. He also became aware that he needed to feed Sissel, preferably soon.

"Nearly there, girl," he growled softly, knowing she couldn't hear him. She could sleep in his bed tonight and he'd work on getting a child's bed the next day. He'd also stop at the marketplace and buy some food.

They reached Breezehome and Gorak slid off of the horse, carrying Sissel in his arms. He left his horse outside and let himself in. Sissel stirred in his arms but didn't wake. He placed her on one of the chairs, hung his axe on the door and began to cook one of the rabbits he had hanging up. He'd give half to Sissel, he decided, and then they could finish that cheese he had.

He heard a sigh from behind him and turned round. "You awake?"

Sissel nodded in response.

"We're home, girl."

"Home?"

Gorak nodded and stood up to get the plates. Sissel stared curiously at the meat.

"Hungry?"

Gorak slapped the meat onto the two plates and carried them to the table, putting one in front of Sissel.

Sissel looked uncertainly at the plate.

"Yours," he confirmed, ruffling her hair before going to find the cheese.

He discovered he had about half a roll left on the shelf and brought it back to the table, where Sissel had already eaten nearly half of her rabbit.

"Slow down," he rasped, "You'll end up being sick."

He cut the cheese and put the larger half next to Sissel's plate before sitting down and starting on his own rabbit.

Neither of them said anything for a while. Sissel finished her rabbit and looked up at Gorak, pointing questioningly at the cheese. Gorak nodded and Sissel bit into it. Gorak finished his meal then broke the silence. "You enjoy that?"

Sissel nodded.

"You want anything to drink?"

Sissel thought for a moment then shook her head.

"When was the last time you ate?"

Sissel seemed deep in thought for a few seconds. Then she said quietly, "Yesterday morning."

Gorak stared at her for a moment.

"You're gonna get plenty of food here. You get hungry, you let me know. You're my kid now."

"Are-are you gonna be my new papa?"

"If that's what you want."

Sissel nodded and a small smile spread across her face.

Gorak stood up to wash the plates up and realised he was smiling too.

"Tomorrow we'll get you a bed and see about getting you some new clothes."

Sissel nodded.

"We should probably get you some sleep now." Gorak scratched at the back of his mohawk.

Sissel said something quietly.

"What was that, girl?"

"I need to pee."

Gorak nodded. "Upstairs, straight ahead."

Sissel got up slowly and went up the stairs and Gorak saw how filthy her dress was. He followed her up the stairs and called through the bathroom door.

"Sissel."

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna see if I got any clothes that'll fit you."

"Okay."

Gorak went to his bedroom and browsed through his clothes. He found two oversized tunics and some robes and lay them on the bed.

He turned around to see Sissel standing in the door.

"Found some stuff that might fit you."

Sissel approached him cautiously.

"You pick something, girl. I'll go out and give you some privacy and you can call me back in when you're done."

Sissel nodded and approached the bed. Gorak ruffled her hair before going to the toilet himself.

"Papa?" he heard through the door, so quietly he could barely hear it. He entered the bedroom again. Sissel was wearing one of his oversized tunics. It reached down to below her knees and she was in the process of rolling the sleeves up.

"Hey, girl."

He busied himself with putting the remaining clothes back in the cupboard. He registered that the dress was now in the corner and figured he'd do something with it in the morning.

His train of thought was suddenly broken by a colossal crash. He spun round to see that Sissel had somehow managed to knock most of his books off of his shelf and sighed. "Those were sorted alphabetically," he thought.

A small whimper came from Sissel, now shaking in the corner.

"It's alright, girl."

"I'm-I'm sorry," Sissel whispered. Gorak took a step towards her and immediately regretted it as Sissel pulled her arms over her head and let out an audible sob.

"P-Please, mister, I, I didn't mean to-"

"Hush, girl," the orc interrupted, risking another step forward and pulling the girl into his arms. Sissel froze up completely at this and Gorak awkwardly rubbed her back in what he hoped was a comforting manner, unsure what to do now.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, girl."

Sissel clung onto the front of his shirt.

"You-you're not mad?"

"It was an accident, right?"

"So you're not gonna hit me?"

Gorak made a strangled sound in his throat, "N-no."

He held her for a minute before kneeling in front of her, one hand on her shoulder, the other cupping her cheek.

"Listen, girl, I don't know what happened to you before, but..." he trailed off, trying to form a coherent way of putting it.

"I'm not gonna beat you or anything like that. I-I'm not gonna hit you, girl. You do something wrong, you just gotta make up next time. But this was an accident, right? Nothing was even damaged. I'm gonna sort out this big pile in the morning. You're okay. You understand? It's okay."

Sissel didn't move for a moment, then she nodded slowly and wrapped her arms around Gorak's shoulders. He hugged her back and neither of them said anything for a while. Then Gorak stood and broke the silence.

"Alright, girl, into bed."

He pulled back the covers and Sissel climbed onto the bed.

He tucked her in and said "You go to sleep now, girl." He turned around to leave, intending to go and sleep on his chair and maybe finish that mead he had-

"Wait!" The girl's voice cut through his thoughts.

He turned around.

"Please don't go."

"What is it?"

"I'm scared."

"Why?"

"It-it's dark."

"You don't like the dark?"

"Bad things happen in the dark."

"Sissel, the scariest thing in this room is me and I'm not a threat."

"Can you stay?"

The orc considered this. Then he said "Move over," and lay next to her on the bed.

"Tomorrow," he growled, "we move you into the empty room."

He felt Sissel snuggle into his side.

"Yeah," he continued, mostly taking to himself now, "We're gonna get you a bed. And a light."

"Papa?"

"Yes?"

"Th-thank you."

"S'alright girl," replied Gorak, yawning. "Go to sleep, now."

Sissel attached herself onto his arm, closing her eyes.

"'Night, Papa."

Gorak rolled onto his side and Sissel curled up into his chest.

She felt a large hand run through her hair and his voice rumbled through his chest.

"G'night, Sissel."


End file.
